Elementary Phys. Ed Essays - Educational Psychology,

Elementary Phys. Ed The effect of physical education on elementary students is noticeable through all types of skill development. From personal experiences, people can conclude that there is more to games and activities than just expending energy to relieve and calm younger children. The main focus of my ideas is mainly directed towards motor skills, relationships and how they contribute to student learning, and setting and achieving goals as well as the five areas to which I set beliefs, theories, and assumptions. Children, especially young, need to learn basic motor skills to make their physical life easier when they get older. Sometimes motor skills come to us phylogenetically, such as walking, but often times we have to be taught, and need to learn how to use our body parts. If teachers try to incorporate motor skill enhancing games and exercises into their lesson plan, the students will benefit. Some early mechanics, such as Rudolf Labans four classifications of movement, might be very helpful towards early, as well as later, control of body parts. Also, basic motor skills are beneficial to classroom work, such as pencil control, hand control, and body control in class exercises. Some skills also depend on the physical environment of the participants, and the opportunity placed before them. And then other times, it just depends on the speed at which the individual is capable of learning. Elementary phys. ed. programs and teachers tend to push gross motor skills onto younger children to enh ance basic skills, therefore creating a prerequisite for more advanced games and drills. This is what makes later grades more exciting for students at higher levels. How relationships contribute to learning is one way to understand the necessity for physical education in younger groups. The interaction with people in earlier years promotes the social skills of a person, as well as a student. Affective development plays a larger role in this because it encourages positive interaction between children, but also teaches respect for the game, the rules, and the people who are involved in the activity. By putting students together in a situation where they can relate to one another, a teacher can push students to socialize, and feel welcome in their surroundings. If a student feels welcome by all of their teammates they will find it easier to play the game. And in finding the game easy to play, the students play harder and better. A feeling of self worth comes with this almost competitive nature. The problem that may occur in a younger classroom is over competitive nature. If a teacher plays a game where some students are better than others, and the g ame requires competitiveness, children will feel as though they are being left out, or even worse, feel inadequate. This is a negative response that you do not want to receive from students. One way to cut down on this feeling is to help children set and achieve goals for themselves. If children are in it for themselves, no one can make them feel as though they are doing poorly. If instructors try to incorporate cognitive development, it may make it fairer for all participants, because then your less physically enhanced children can create games that they may find easier. This will also increase the growth of creativity in the students. Therefore it may reflect in the classroom towards schoolwork, and other aspects of their lives. Goal setting may also lead to children learning on their own. This will lead to a faster increase in levels of development. As children learn faster, they will increase speed of play and start to play games that have an increase in competition, and in many cases, have a winning and losing side. This can be very rewarding for children, in all aspects of their lives, especially self-esteem. As a learner, one should approach a class, whether it is Phys Ed or English, with an open mind. Assume nothing about the experience, but on the other hand, a student should still set goals to achieve in a day, or even class. Believe that even if they are trying their best, they can still achieve a greater level of excellence, not for the teacher, but for themselves. I dont see how the